NEW YORK -- It has been rather a pleasant honeymoon for Gary Bettman. The NHL's first commissioner has shaken all the right hands, said all the right things, has started to scrape mud off the NHL shield with an eagerness and an energy that suggest hope for the future.But his first crisis started last night, and now we are going to learn what Bettman looks like with his tie unknotted and his sleeves rolled up. He holds the league's self-respect in his hands zTC right now, holds its national image in his hands right now like it is a pulsing heart.

Bettman: NHL growing despite declining economy HOCKEY The NHL is "still in growth mode" despite the economic downturn, commissioner Gary Bettman said yesterday, noting that ticket sales have increased this season. "We're acutely aware of what's going on out there, but it hasn't yet impacted us," Bettman said before attending last night's game between the Washington Capitals and Vancouver Canucks. "I have no doubt that, over time, if it's long enough and bad enough, it will have some impact, but based on what we're seeing right now, our business seems to be strong."

NEW YORK -- Just a skyscraper away from his old haunt at the NBA, Gary Bettman's new office is a reflection of the hockey league he now runs. While the halls leading to it still are adorned with pictures of hockey's past greats, his walls are empty, awaiting the imprimatur of a new boss leading an ostensibly new league.But don't blame Bettman for not having time to decorate. Life for the 40-year-old lawyer has changed radically since he took over as NHL commissioner Feb. 1. He may now have a league of his own -- he was third-in-command of the phenomenally successful NBA -- but is working for a troubled league that stands at the crossroads of regional obscurity and international importance.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - This isn't just one of the most lopsided sports labor outcomes in North American history. It's among the most lopsided labor outcomes. It's among the most lopsided outcomes, period. This is Reagan vs. Mondale. Tyson vs. Spinks. Jaguars vs. Dolphins. Check that. Mondale won a state. Spinks lasted 91 seconds. The Dolphins managed a touchdown. The NHL players were shut out, unless you count "earlier free agency" as a significant score. The owners got nearly everything they sought and some things they didn't seek until the players kindly suggested them, like that 24 percent salary rollback.

Dale Hunter is a stoic player who keeps his feelings under wraps in good times and bad.But yesterday, when he emerged from a team meeting in which Capitals general manager David Poile announced Hunter had been named to the NHL All-Star team as a special selection by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, he was anything but stoic"I don't know what to say," Hunter said, his eyes moist, his voice catching. "Give me a few minutes."Hunter joins Philadelphia Flyers center Dale Hawerchuk as the commissioner's choices for the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

The NHL is about to find out just how much impact new commissioner Gary Bettman has. Now that the league has expanded by five teams in three years, realignment is likely, and Bettman not only hopes to get it done, but he also expects to have it done by April 1."For one thing, he is approaching it differently from the way it was done in the past," said Washington Capitals general manager David Poile, when asked about the chances that realignment would happen."Every other time we've tried this, everyone just shows up at a meeting, says what they think and nothing gets done.

Washington Capitals center Dale Hunter was found guilty by the NHL yesterday of "unwarranted, unsportsmanlike and excessive conduct" and will be suspended for slamming New York Islanders center Pierre Turgeon into the boards and causing him to suffer a concussion and a separated shoulder in Game 6 Wednesday.The incident came while Turgeon was celebrating scoring the Islanders' final goal with 8:31 left in a 5-3 victory that eliminated the Capitals from the Stanley Cup playoffs.Hunter will be suspended without pay for an unspecified number of games next season.

By Richard Sandomir and Richard Sandomir,New York Times News Service | July 25, 1994

NEW YORK -- The nine-day tug-of-war over former New York Rangers coach Mike Keenan ended late last night with a settlement that left no party pleased or unpunished.The multi-part decision by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman lets Keenan go to the St. Louis Blues as coach and general manager. In compensation for Keenan leaving with four years left on his contract, Bettman approved the Blues' trade of Petr Nedved to the Rangers for Esa Tikkanen and Doug Lidster.Bettman also ordered that the Rangers pay Keenan a $608,000 bonus and that Keenan in turn repay the team $400,000 of it. He also suspended Keenan for 60 days, and fined him $100,000 for "conduct detrimental to the league."

TORONTO - A labor war that had been widely predicted had its first shot fired yesterday when the NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously to lock out its players when the collective bargaining agreement expired at midnight last night. The lockout postponed the start of training camp for the 2004-05 season, scheduled to begin today, and threatens the entire season. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman blamed the lockout - the second in the last 11 years in the NHL - on the players union. "When the union wants to stop the posturing and acknowledges the problems are as real as our governors' resolve to fix them, we will be here, ready to make a fair and meaningful agreement that will usher in a new era," Bettman said.

The NHL's lockout of its players continues into its third day today, with the league and the NHL Players Association planning to resume talks tomorrow, but with few players apparently believing any good news will emerge soon.After a 90-minute meeting among Washington Capitals players yesterday that included a discussion of the issues, the union's position and a letter sent by commissioner Gary Bettman to all players detailing the standoff, several Capitals left for distant homes while others made plans for recreational and family activities.

By Helene Elliott and Helene Elliott,LOS ANGELES TIMES | July 23, 2005

NEW YORK - It was a foregone conclusion that the NHL would ratify the collective bargaining agreement players had grudgingly swallowed, and the 30 governors lined up yesterday to welcome more cost controls than they'd dreamed of when commissioner Gary Bettman locked out players last Sept. 15. But with uncharacteristic boldness, the governors also took steps to energize a game that had withered long before labor woes dragged it out of sight and mind. On the first day of the rest of the NHL's life, Bettman ended the 310-day lockout and reopened the league for business today.

The National Hockey League became the first major professional league to lose its entire season to a labor dispute yesterday when commissioner Gary Bettman announced the cancellation of the remainder of its 1,230-game schedule. "As I stand before you today, it is my sad duty to announce that it no longer is practical to conduct even an abbreviated season," Bettman said at a New York news conference that was televised live across the United States and Canada. "Accordingly, I have no choice but to announce the formal cancellation of play for 2004-2005.

TORONTO - A labor war that had been widely predicted had its first shot fired yesterday when the NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously to lock out its players when the collective bargaining agreement expired at midnight last night. The lockout postponed the start of training camp for the 2004-05 season, scheduled to begin today, and threatens the entire season. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman blamed the lockout - the second in the last 11 years in the NHL - on the players union. "When the union wants to stop the posturing and acknowledges the problems are as real as our governors' resolve to fix them, we will be here, ready to make a fair and meaningful agreement that will usher in a new era," Bettman said.

NAGANO, Japan -- So, after shutting down the season 16 days, lugging 125 of its top players thousands of miles and rolling the dice in a great gamble to sell the sport to the world, the NHL came up with this Final Four at the Winter Olympics:Czech Republic vs. Canada and Finland vs. Russia.But if NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is upset by the turn of events -- underscored by the embarrassing performance of Team USA -- he's not letting on."From all the empirical touch and feel data we've been accumulating, we believe this is a positive experience," Bettman said yesterday.

Dale Hunter is a stoic player who keeps his feelings under wraps in good times and bad.But yesterday, after emerging from a team meeting in which Washington Capitals general manager David Poile announced the center had been named to the NHL All-Star team as a special selection by commissioner Gary Bettman, Hunter was anything but stoic."

Dale Hunter is a stoic player who keeps his feelings under wraps in good times and bad.But yesterday, when he emerged from a team meeting in which Capitals general manager David Poile announced Hunter had been named to the NHL All-Star team as a special selection by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, he was anything but stoic"I don't know what to say," Hunter said, his eyes moist, his voice catching. "Give me a few minutes."Hunter joins Philadelphia Flyers center Dale Hawerchuk as the commissioner's choices for the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

NEW YORK -- The NHL postponed the start of its season indefinitely yesterday and moved into a standoff with its players union.That situation became apparent when commissioner Gary Bettman rejected the NHL Players Association's latest proposal as not only unacceptable but "a step backward."Bettman said that the board of governors, assembled on a dais at the New York Sheraton, was unanimous in its decision to not open the season unless a collective bargaining agreement is reached.Bettman had turned down an NHLPA offer that would have opened the season as scheduled Oct. 1 and said he would reconsider the union offer again closer to a new opening day, Oct. 15.Needless to say, without a miracle, the NHL will not be playing on Saturday.

By Keith Gave and Keith Gave,Knight-Ridder Newspapers | September 27, 1994

You'll hear a lot in upcoming days about salary caps, arbitration and free agency -- or whatever twisted descriptions the commissioner uses -- but the real issue between the NHL and its players is trust.There is precious little on either side.The owners' point man, NHL commissioner Gary (Mr. Salary Cap) Bettman, has set Saturday -- the NHL's Opening Night -- as deadline for a collective bargaining agreement or the season will be postponed. He says the owners can't trust the players not to strike, as they did for 10 days in April 1992.

For two men who had little left in their back pockets for negotiating, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players Association executive director Bob Goodenow evidently found something to talk about yesterday on the eve of possible NHL destruction.With the lingering promise to cancel the 1994-95 season at noon today if an agreement is not reached in the 102-day lockout, the two leaders met into the night.Bettman and Goodenow agreed to meet yesterday after each side in this collective bargaining standoff rejected the "last, best" offer of the other side last weekend.

Now we know why Gary Bettman worked for David Stern, instead of the other way around.Both were staring at daunting labor-relations obstacles. Stern, the commissioner of the NBA, found a solution that enabled the games to go on. Bettman, the NHL commissioner who used to work for Stern, found that he needed a bodyguard.Stern's league now will have a monopoly on the sporting public's interest five nights a week, while Bettman's will sit idle, its momentum from last spring effectively hip-checked into the boards.